


Fluffy February Day 10 - Robots

by valkyriejack (vikings_of_valhalla)



Series: Fluffy February 2021 [10]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Gen, General Atomics Galleria, M/M, Robots, bowling, fluffy february
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29315400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vikings_of_valhalla/pseuds/valkyriejack
Summary: Deacon takes MacCready to General Atomics Galleria.forFluffy Februaryoriginally posted on mytumblr
Relationships: Deacon & Robert Joseph MacCready, Deacon/Robert Joseph MacCready
Series: Fluffy February 2021 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2137989
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4
Collections: Fluffy February 2021





	Fluffy February Day 10 - Robots

**Author's Note:**

> find the original prompt list [@fluffyfebruary](https://fluffyfebruary.tumblr.com/post/639602426793623552/fluffy-february-prompts)

“You sure these guys are friendly?”

“Absolutely. You’re the friendliest robot in the world, aren’t you, George?”

“Supervisor Deacon, pleasure to see you as always.” said the robot.

“Supervisor Deacon? What’s that all about?”

“I have no idea. Robots can be so finicky you know.”

“Oh sure.” MacCready said sarcastically. 

He looked around. The place was a dump. You’d think with all these cleaning robots around, General Atomics Galleria would be the cleanest place in the Commonwealth. You’d be wrong though. Still, the giant robot statue in the center was pretty impressive. Kind of a waste of resources, but then, that was just the pre-war world wasn’t it?

Deacon saw him staring at the giant robot statue. “This was built to immortalize our robotic overlords. True story.”

MacCready laughed.

“So, shall we take a tour?” Deacon asked. 

“I don't know, I think maybe we should just get straight to business. You never know when one of these robots will go haywire.”

“Great! A tour it is! So let’s start at the diner. It’s called Handy Eats. Let’s check it out.” He was halfway to the diner when he realized MacCready wasn’t following him. “Come on, Mac, it’ll be fun!” He grabbed his hand and led him into the diner.

“What’s with all the bodies?”

“Satisfied customers. Don’t worry about it.”

“Welcome to Handy Eats. Feel free to seat yourselves. I’ll be right over.” said the Waitron.

Deacon and MacCready took a seat at the only table not occupied by a skeleton. The Waitron came over, and Deacon ordered them two bowls of Blamco and two Nukas.

“So what’s the deal with this place anyway?” MacCready asked while they waited for their food.

“My grandfather used to take me here when I was just a little boy. Of course that was back when the Handys were all a little bit more… murder-y, but they’ve really lighten up over the years. Shame about Grampy though.”

“Oh yeah right. I mean sure, I’ll believe they were a lot more murder-y before, but that bit about your “Grampy” is bull... crap.”

“Well you know, best part of “believe” is the lie.”

MacCready snorted.

The Waitron arrived with their food and drinks. “Enjoy!”

They ate their food without too much conversation, then left the diner.

“Can we go find that part for Codsworth now?” MacCready asked.

“You don’t want to look around some more? There’s a donut shop.”

“Do they have any donuts?”

“Well, no. There’s a bakery.”

“Let me guess, they don’t have any bakes.”

“Also no. Oh I know! There’s a clothes store!”

“Costumes are your thing, not mine.”

“How about a boxing gym? Does that sound like fun?”

“The sport where you hit people? Yeah, that sounds awesome! Do the robots fight each other? Man that’s so cool, why didn’t you start with that?”

“It’s all about the buildup, see.”

“Whatever.” He looked around and saw the gym. “That’s the place?”

“Yup. C’mon, let’s go.”

The gym had two Handys floating around. One behind a counter, and the other in front of the boxing ring. In the boxing ring, one lied on the floor, unresponsive.

“Eeesh, what happened to him?” MacCready asked.

“He’s just taking a breather. Don’t worry about it.”

“Ooo-kay…”

“Mac, meet Mack.”

“What?” said MacCready and the robot in front of the ring.

“Mac,” he pointed at MacCready. “Mack.” he pointed at the robot.

“Oh, right. Hey, Mack.”

“Hey Mack, how’s the sport?” Deacon asked.

“Hasn’t been the same since we lost the Champ.”

Deacon patted the Handy on the head. “That’s rough, buddy.”

MacCready snorted.

“Please ignore my friend. He’s got a bad case of asthma, you understand.”

“I’m sure.” Mack said. “If you want anything, check with Danny.”

“Not today Mack, thanks though.”

Mack floated away, disgruntled.

“The heck is ass-mer?” MacCready asked once Mack had left.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“So when do they fight each other?”

“They… don’t. Not anymore.”

“Ah man! Seriously? This sucks!”

“You’re being very rude right now.”

“What, it does suck. Do they even have what we’re looking for?”

“Yeah, they do, okay, just keep your shirt on. Follow me. I’m pretty sure the outlet will have some spare parts.”

“They fu-reaking better.”

The outlet wasn’t much to look at. Empty barren shelves in one room, and about five “dead” Mr. Handys in the next. MacCready walked over to one of the “dead” Handys and started poking at it.

“You have any idea what this part we need looks like?”

“Yeah, absolutely.” Deacon said. He walked over to one of the Gutsys on the left, opened up its head, and looked around. “It’s uhhhh….”

“You have no idea. Why the he-ck did you tell Codsworth you knew what you were doing? If you bring him back the wrong piece and it causes him to go haywire or something, and he tries killing somebody, Nora’s never going to forgive you.”

“Oh will you hush up a moment? Besides, it’s a piece of _hardware_ that broke, not _software_.”

“Codsworth doesn’t have a -”

“Oh Christ. It means it’s part of his body, not his brains.”

“Oh. Why didn’t you just say so?”

Just then a Mr. Handy floated towards them. MacCready eyed it warily, but Deacon just said, “It’s fine, none of them are hostile, I swear.”

“Hello there gentleman. Are you here for the demonstration? I’m afraid it’s been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.”

“Hey, Sprocket, how’s it going?”

“Supervisor Deacon! I almost didn’t recognize you. Are you here to repair our floor models?”

“That’s right. Just looking for a specific part. Tell me, what would you do if one of your guys had a bad motivator?”

“Oh, well that’s quite an easy fix. You see all you’d have to do would be to call your local General Atomics service and repair shop, and they’d fix you right up.”

“‘Fraid that’s not going to work, buddy. I need to fix him myself.”

“Have you tried turning him off and turning him back on?”

“...Yes. Yes we have. That didn’t work.”

“Did you have him run a self diagnostic?”

“Yes, we did that too,” Deacon was starting to lose his patience. “And he said it was a bad motivator. So how do I fix that?”

“Sounds like your Mr. Handy has a bad motivator.”

“That’s it!” MacCready said. He made a move to pull out his holdout pistol, but again, Deacon stopped him.

“We are _so_ close. Do _not_ ruin this for us.”

“Okay man, jeez, chill out.”

“Yeah, Sprocket, it’s a bad motivator. So, if we needed to repair it from home, what would we do?”

“You would need to replace the motors of course.”

“Of course. And where would those be? Come show me on this one right here.”

Sprocket glided across the room over to where Deacon was pointing and peered on eye stalk down the Gutsy’s head. 

“Riiiight here.” The Handy pulled out a… well a something, and held it out to Deacon. “Will that be all sir?”

“Yeah, this should do it. That’s buddy, you’ve been a big help.”

“Great, so we can go back to Sanctuary now.” MacCready said once they’d left the outlet.

“What about the tour? We haven’t even gotten to the best part.”

“I don’t know… this whole place kinda gives me the heebs.”

“Well as long as it doesn’t give you the heebs and the jeebs, I say we keep going.”

“Oh all right. So what is this “best part” anyway?”

“Come on, I’ll show you.”

Deacon led him to a building in the center of the galleria. 

“Back Alley Bowling? What’s that, some kind of soup store?” MacCready asked.

“Oh man, that would be awesome! But no, it’s not. Come on in and you’ll see.”

They entered the building and walked up to the counter on the left, where a Mr. Handy was floating behind a cash register.

“Hey Tenpin.”

“Supervisor Deacon, it’s good to see you. The usual?”

“That’d be great, buddy. I got a guest with me here today. Name’s Mac.”

“Rightio, I’ll add him to the list.” the Handy clacked a few keys on the terminal. “Okay, it’s all set up and ready for you.”

“Thanks Tenpin, you’re the best.”

They walked down to the alleys. 

“Oh, I’ve heard of this sport. You’re supposed to roll a ball down the lanes and knock over those pins. Weird.”

“Would you believe me if I told you you could do that exact thing, right now?”

“Heh, no. No I would not.”

“Well you should! Nora and I got it up and running.”

“You’re so full of sh- crap!”

“Prepare to be amazed!”

MacCready rolled his eyes.

Deacon took off his shoes. 

“Oh gross, man! What the heck are you doing that for?”

“It’s part of the rules.”

“You’re fu- messing with me again, aren’t you?”

“I swear to god I’m not. Come on, you don’t want to make Tenpin mad, do you? Take off your shoes.”

MacCready grumbled, but did as he was told, then sat down on one of the benches. Deacon threw the ball down the lane. The ball was about two-thirds of the way down before it curved, hitting only two of the pins.

“Well that… sucked.” MacCready said. “Is it my turn now?”

“No, I get two turns, then you go.”

“Right, of course you do.”

Deacon ignored him, picked up his ball from the machine, then walked back up the alley. He threw the ball and… landed it in the gutter.

MacCready laughed. “Pretty sure it’s not supposed to do that right?”

“Oh, shut it you.” The pins reset, and Deacon handed him the ball. “See if you can do any better.”

“Holy shi- crap, how much does this thing weigh?”

“14 pounds.”

“That’s like twice as much as a baby.”

Deacon raised an eyebrow.

“What? We found some books about pregnancies and babies and all that. Said a healthy baby weighs 7ish pounds.”

“How big was Duncan.”

“How the hell would I know, it’s not like we had scales or anything.”

“Would you quit stalling and throw the ball already.”

MacCready threw the ball… and got a strike.

“Beginner’s luck.” Deacon grumbled.

“HA! In your FACE! This game’s easy!”

“Okay, enough with the victory dance. You know what? I was going easy on you, so buckle up chucklefuck, you’re about to get wrecked.”

“Wait, isn’t it still my turn? You got to throw the ball twice, so doesn’t that mean I -”

Deacon ignored him and threw another ball. It went straight into the gutter. Again. MacCready laughed. Deacon glared at him.

“That didn’t count. Lemme try again.”

“Oh sure.”

He tried again, and this time managed to hit the pins, but got a split.

“Your turn.” Deacon said.

“Aren’t the pins supposed to reset?”

Deacon ignored him “Go on, hit those two pins, if you’re so good at this game.”

“Fine, I will.”

He threw the ball straight into the gutter.

“God- er, gosh darn it.”

“I thought you said this game was easy.” Deacon taunted.

“Oh you shut up.”

They continued their game. Neither of them were particularly good at it. Deacon claimed he was only doing so poorly because “I’m not used to doing this with an audience” and “it’s just my back, you see” and “actually whoever gets the lowest score is the winner”. MacCready wasn’t doing too much better. Apparently it really had just been beginner’s luck that landed him a strike. Finally, they were down to the last round.

“My arm hurts.” MacCready complained.

“Would you hush? You’re going to break my concentration.”

MacCready folded his arm and sat down.

Deacon threw the ball and scored his first strike of the match.

“That’s how it’s done! I told you I was good at this game.” Deacon shouted. MacCready rolled his eyes.

The pins reset, and Deacon threw the ball again, scoring another strike. MacCready’s jaw dropped.

“You were just faking being bad at this weren’t you?”

“What? That’s crazy. Who would do a thing like that?

“You!”

“I get to go again.”

“No, you don’t!”

“Do too, on the last round, if you get two strikes, you get a chance for a third.”

“You’re so full of sh- crap!”

Deacon ignored him, walked up to the pins, bowling ball in hand, and was about to throw the ball when -

“Excuse me gentlemen, but it’s closing time.” said Tenpin.

“We’re on the last round! You can wait to close for ten minutes, can’t you?”

“I’m sorry, Supervisor Deacon, the rules are quite clear.”

Deacon’s mind raced, trying to find a possible loophole that would allow them to finish the game. Finally, an idea struck him. He dropped the ball.

“Oh whoops, I’m such a clutz. Tenpin, will you be a dear and pick that up for me?”

Tenpin floated after the ball. Deacon waited until all three of his eyes were looking elsewhere and his back was turned, then he snuck up on the robot and flipped its off switch.

“HA!” MacCready shouted.

“Great, now as I was saying, I get a third turn.”

“Oh for fu- would you just let me throw the gosh darn ball?”

“...Fine. Here.” Deacon handed him the ball and started putting his shoes back on.

MacCready was about to take his turn when three other Mr. Handys came floating into the room. 

“Tenpin? Where are you? It’s closing time, and you know what that means!” said one of the Handys.

“Uh…” MacCready set his ball back down with the others. 

“Maybe they won’t notice...” Deacon said. 

MacCready scowled at him as he quickly put his shoes back on. “I don’t think they’ve seen us yet, maybe we can still -”

“Oh my god! Tenpin! What have they done to you? Guard Gutsy! Get them!”

“Shit. Run!”

Deacon and MacCready grabbed their things and took off. They made it out the building, but then all the other Handys outside went to see what was going on.

“Just keep running, don’t stop till we get to Zimonja.” Deacon shouted.

They made it out unscathed, and even managed not to have to kill any of the robots. When they finally made it back to Outpost Zimonja, the two of them collapsed into the nearest couch.

“I haven’t had to run that much since the Boston Marathon of ‘53.” Deacon said between breaths.

MacCready wondered what the heck a marathon was, but didn’t bother to ask, too exhausted to care. “I’m sorry I ruined your bowling robots.” he said once he had a chance to catch his breath.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. Give ‘em some time, and they’ll forget all about it.”

“If you say so.” He grabbed two cans of water out of his pack, handed one to Deacon, then started chugging. 

“Woah, slow down there, slim, you’re going to heave all that up if you chug it so fast.” He opened his can and took a long sip.

MacCready rolled his eyes and finished his water, slowing down only a little, then stood up. “Well, I’m going to bed. We can head out to Sanctuary tomorrow to give Codsworth that thingamajig. G’night.”

“Night.”

Deacon let out a long sigh as soon as MacCready left the room. Well, General Atomics Galleria was a fun place while it lasted, but he knew better than anyone that robots, especially Mr. Handys, held long grudges. No, he was pretty sure if he tried going back, they’d all go aggro and try and kill him. But who knows. Maybe someday he’ll be able to sneak back in there, with a different name and a different face, and become the Supervisor again. MacCready however? He was probably banned for life. When Deacon really thought about it, it just wouldn’t be as fun going back without him. 

And really, he’d choose MacCready over all the Mr. Handys in the Commonwealth. Even if they were Mr. Handys that bowled. Bowling was overrated anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> come find me on tumblr [@valkyriejack](valkyriejack.tumblr.com)


End file.
